The present invention relates to a method and article of manufacture for installing sidewalk or pavement. More particularly, it relates to pavement or sidewalk under which underground utilities of all types may be laid. The terms "pavement" and "sidewalk" will be used interchangeably throughout.
There has been a growing tendency over the last twenty or thirty years to place the utilities such as electric lines, gas, water and sewer pipe lines underground, within a public right of way where access for repair work when necessary can be gained without conflicts with individual property owners. In many instances, there is a problem as to where these lines are to be placed. The problem is particularly acute in new residential and commercial development where there is a limited right of way, and particularly after an area usually approximately four feet wide is eliminated for a sidewalk, there is little area left. This is particularly a problem when there is some other obstruction in the area. The utility companies are often reluctant to place their utility lines under normal (prior art) sidewalk since if it is necessary to gain access to them, the sidewalk would need to be jackhammered out and then replaced by the building of forms and the pouring of concrete after the work on the utility lines is done.
The present invention addresses these problems.